Clarksville police apologize for raiding wrong home

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MicroBalrog

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Wednesday, 09/15/04
Clarksville police apologize for raiding wrong home

By CHANTAL ESCOTO
The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle

Clarksville Police Chief Mark Smith said he will offer two residents a written apology for officers' mistakenly raiding their home Friday night.

''I want to publicly apologize,'' Smith said this week during a press conference, adding that Friday's mistake was the first time in his 28 years with the department that officers had broken into the wrong home. ''There is certainly no pattern here,'' he said.

According to Smith, the police tactical team received information that a drug dealer lived at 343B Old Trenton Road, but they ended up going to the house next door that only had the letter ''B'' on the outside — which turned out to be 341B.

The residents of 341B, Teresa Guiler and James Elliott, who are in their 50s, were home watching television when the masked men stormed into the house.

Guiler, whose arm was in a sling from a previous injury, told police that they had the wrong man as they pointed a gun at her and Elliott, who is deaf and had recently received a liver transplant, she said.

Guiler went for medical help after the raid, and Elliott had planned to go to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville yesterday to be seen by his doctors.

Smith said that although he feels terrible about the raid, he insists that the officers never used excessive force. But because Elliott resisted, officers had to control him by ''bringing him down,'' he said.

''We (ensure) it's done safely and with minimal amount of force as possible,'' Smith said.

But Guiler and Elliott's attorney, Tommy Meeks, said what the police did is unacceptable.

''What justification can you give to kick a 54-year-old man who's down on the ground,'' Meeks said about Elliott, who is a Vietnam War veteran. ''All he saw was men in masks with rifles. He was terrified. Then to get knocked down and stomped. They picked him up like a suitcase. The Police Department said they acted in normal procedure, but that's not normal.''

Smith said the man they were actually looking for was Jeremiah Taylor, 24, who was arrested and charged Friday night with possession of Ecstasy for resale. A separate warrant was taken for a raid of his home. Taylor was booked into the Montgomery County Jail with bail set at $28,000.

Smith said the mix-up on the addresses came from the drug agents with the Major Crimes unit, who got their information from an informant. But even though the address was reportedly checked before the raid, the wrong house was still entered.

They did investigate to a ''reasonable extent,'' Smith said, adding that policies and procedures will be re-examined and the department's Professional Integrity Unit will investigate.

''You always can learn from your mistakes.''

But Meeks said that the department went too far and that the frail residents are hurting from those ''mistakes.''

''There's going to be some answers,'' said Meeks, who will wait to see what his clients' doctors say before moving forward with any possible legal action against the Police Department.
 
They are dam lucky it was a couple, basically handicapped and in their 50s, and evidently no preparation for a home invasion, were the only ones in the home.
 
''I want to publicly apologize,'' Smith said this week during a press conference, adding that Friday's mistake was the first time in his 28 years with the department that officers had broken into the wrong home.
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That's okay. It'll be the first time in 28 years that you get your arse sued off for kicking in the wrong door, too. First time for everything. An even half-way competent attorney on the part of the guy you roughed up and you'll be the ex-chief of the Elliottville police department.
 
And, here we go with the cop bashing....again.
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Aw, come on, wrong is wrong, and these guys were wrong. There are cowboys in all professions (it is America, after all), and they need to be staked down once in a while.

I'm an equal opportunity enforcer of this kind of exuberance - from LEO or attorney, or any person whose zeal causes real pain and suffering.
 
"And, here we go with the cop bashing....again."

Not really on my part as I have family in the law enforcement community however I have seen over the past 30 years what has happened to our society and police force, in many ways it is not a good thing, the military style tactics of many units concern me as it should others. The average
cop on the beat does not have the discretion he once had, our nation
as a whole jumps before thinking, call it common sense what you wish
it isn't there now. There should never be a reason to go in the wrong home,
if you can get together a 10 man unit with thousands dollars worth of gear,
you should be able to send out a gopher to check out the home/address
before the strike. Not bashing, just no excuse in my book.
 
I think the operative part of the whole thing is that the house they went into had only a "B" on the door . If they did indeed have a warrant for a certain number then they knew from the beginning they were "taking a chance". Of course the chance to be a "hero" does not come along everyday so it should be grabbed .
 
Maybe paranoia, but....

...This is my personal nightmare scenario. I know for a fact that if this occurred at my home, at least the first guy through the door, and then, in all likelihood, I , would be dead. I am always armed at home, and participate in no criminal activity to expect this kind of intrusion, thus, any masked gunmen coming through my door, shouting "Police!" or whatever, are assumed to be badguys (or impostors) in need of shooting RTF NOW!

Yeah, apologize to the nice sheeple, apologize to my wife and kids, I apologize in advance to the officer's wife and kids.

Everybody feel better now? :rolleyes: :(
 
Truly a mistake. But a few questions could have been asked at the door to avoid the whole situation. How about confirmation of the address? How about a name or two?
"when the masked men stormed into the house". Give me a break. The lawsuit should give the cops something to think about next time.
 
And, here we go with the cop bashing....again.
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Well, of COURSE! We all know that cops never do the wrong thing. It's all perfectly normal and proper for a disabled person to be slammed around in his own home.

The problem here is that WE non-cops just don't understand!
 
You really have to wonder why the decision to "raid" a home to get one (1) person was even necessary.

Why not go to the door dressed like buyers? Keep the SWAT antics ready to go, but use them after access has already been gained.

I wonder how much property damage was done as well?
 
They gonna pay for the broken door too? Surprised they didn't shoot her when they said "hands up" - being deaf, I doubt she was able to comply with an unheard demand.
 
This must have been one of those "no knock warrants", courtesy of the War on (some) Drugs. Ooops. Sorry. Wrong house. In this case, no one died because of the mistake.
 
cop bashing

Is this the same bunch that shot the family puppy dog on the highway a few months back? Same area maybe?
We all make mistakes,some involve life and death like with the Police,and we all should hold a higher standard for the police. :confused:
 
When an organization, or its people, does wrong, it is appropriate to point it out. That includes cops. I have several kin who are good cops, and several best friends who are in LE. But that does not blind my eyes to wrong.

The government has a special responsibility to do that which is legal and proper. When it fails to do so it must be held responsible. However, it seems to be a mind set with LE that because they are after law breakers that it is OK to break the law themselves, or to trample the rights of honest citizens. I do not suscribe to that mind set.

Those with special authority have special responsibilities.

Jerry
 
Cop bashing

Cop bashing - heck, I don't understand. Any Cop(s) with guns drawn is a life and death situation. Hi profile shootings in SF Calif show that the Cops themselves may be in more danger than the purps. A number of shootings in SF resulted in the cops being shot by friendly fire while the purp got away. I remember walking down Clement street in San Francisco with my daughter, when 2 police cars skitted into the street blocking both sidewalks on both sides of the street. Officers, with guns drawn, entered the street and pointed their weapons at 2 kids who had squirt guns. I and my daughter took cover behind some parked cars. Oh well, no cop bashing here.
 
Is this the same bunch that shot the family puppy dog on the highway a few months back?
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No, that was Cookeville, about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville. Clarksville is NW of Nashville, up towards the Kentucky border on I-24.
 
Sometimes, you can't make it all better with an apology.

Let's bash my profession for a minute as an analogy.

Saying your're sorry to Mr. Jones for amputating the wrong leg doesn't reattach it!!

Some people are highly trained in life to do things from which there may be no return. Like surgical amputation. Therefore, more responsibility is expected and required from that individual practicing his trade to avoid exactly that kind of disaster.
In order to get into the operating room the standard patient undergoes the following redundant checks- all required.
1. initial visit to primary care doctor: where you say my right leg hurts ro whatever and he documents it in his consult to the surgeon.
2. initial visit to surgeon: as above
3. Pre-operative physical: a document where the diagnosis of bad leg has to match the consent from
4. Consent form: where the procedure is identified by both proper name (Right above the knee amputation) and in the patients own words ("I am having my right leg cut off above the knee to save my life") and thepatient signs in front of a witness who is not the surgeon but who also signs the consent. Without consent, no surgery.
5. day of surgery holding area: pt is properly identified and given an identifying wrist band, then married up with the correct chart containing all paperwork, no charts missing paperwork is acceptable
6. day of surgery in the operating waiting area: nurse asks the patient if the info on the wristband is correct, answer has to be yes
7. (same area): nurse asks the patient what procedure he expects to be done, has to agree with the consent
8. (same area): anesthesia provider verifies the pts identification, must be ok
9. (same area): surgeon must sign the operative site in ink, yup he initials right on the patients skin(*)
9. (same area): anesthesia verifies the surgical site is signed
10.(same area): anesthesia verifies the consent again, and a separate consent for the anesthetic is required in some places
11. in the operating room: after the patient is asleep but before the surgeon does anything, the room nurse does a final 'time out' whre he says out loud:
"This is Mr. Soandso, identification number 8675309, having a right leg above the knee amputation, right?"
Everyone in the room, but in particular the surgeon, the anesthesia provider, and the scrub nurse must all say 'yes' out loud.

Only then can the scalpel be put to skin.

So a minimum of 11 positive and direct checks, not to mention the indirect checks involved in the patient observing the surgeon signing his leg, having to sometimes shave the limb the night before, etc. have to occur simply becaue the consequences to the patient are so devastating!

And it worked: the rate of wrong site surgery has gone from approx 1.5% in 1994 to 1-in-over-27,000 in a decade. Still, wrong is wrong and we ALL know it! If the wrong site is violated, even a scratch, we BLEW IT BIG TIME. And we can all expect to suffer civilly, ethically, legally, and professionally for it.
And frankly, if that happened, we would deserve it. The medical professionals have accepted your most intimate level of trust: what we do determines life and death while you are unconscious and have no say anymore; and if I can't live up to it, I need to find other work. Period.

So, back to the firing line. Do i need to go on, or does everyone get the idea?
C-
 
The apology is, one supposes, nice to have, but to whom might the chief apologize if someone had been shot, either his officers or the house holders, something that all concerned might have been dangerously close to with that sort of thing. I suspect that the possibility of law suits looms very large, which is another matter, possibly the least of the possibilities.

Also, if I might make so bold, how come that these wrong house raids, which are NOTHING NEW, keep seeming to happen. Are the police incapable of learning from past mistakes? By the bye, if anyone sees the foregoing as Cop Bashing, you are entitled to your opinion, just as anyone else is entitled to theirs.
 
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